Nelima has joined us in the position of Education Equity Rubric Pilot Project Coordinator, and will be leading our work on this innovative, collaborative project. Nelima brings a unique blend of creative and respected community organizing, policy leadership and successful and innovative work with youth, parents and community leaders from very diverse communities to this position. Most recently a lead organizer at Harrison Neighborhood Association, she created and led complex collaborative projects around housing, education, and employment. Strongly committed to policy work that puts communities at the center, she is a current policy fellow with the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, and serves on the Metropolitan Council’s Housing Policy Planning Work Group. She is one of the founders of the Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition, which has had an important role in winning support and protections for those facing foreclosure, and of the Northwest Community Collaborative, which is addressing employment, education, and other issues important to communities of color in the Twin Cities’ Northwest suburban region.

As Equity Rubric Pilot Project Coordinator, Nelima will be working with pilot school districts, and with a set of local community organizations in communities of color to build a shared analysis, assessment and action plan to strengthen equity practice and leadership in schools. This pilot is part of a state level campaign and commitment from the Minnesota Department of Education to explore ways to recognize equity practice as part of how excellence is defined in schools. This project was developed and is led by the Education Equity Organizing Collaborative (EEOC), which includes 11 organizations or organizing projects in communities of color. The EEOC is convened and staffed by the Organizing Apprenticeship Project. Learn more about the project here.